


Who The F- Is This

by Crownclown



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: (kind-of at least), Conan got sent to the past and decide to become a general nuisance, Edogawa Conan and Kudou Shinichi are Separate People, Gen, Minor Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan/Mouri Ran, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:13:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29723310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crownclown/pseuds/Crownclown
Summary: Shinichi was ready to take back his life. The core of the Black Organisation has been taken down for good, Haibara was finally able to create a definitive antidote, and he has spilled the beans to Ran. All that was left was for 'Conan' to say his goodbyes.Of course, that was without counting on the gemstone targeted by the famous Kaitou Kid.A Time Travel adventure featuring Conan "since I'm here might as well use that time well" Edogawa, Shinichi "who let this sassy child" Kudou, Kaitou "Oh No I've Lost The Child" KID and Ran "you better bring back my boyfriend" Mouri.
Relationships: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan & Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan, Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan & Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid, Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou Kid & Mouri Ran
Comments: 23
Kudos: 52





	1. There Is A Child Loose In The Beika District

**Author's Note:**

> First long-fic I've written in a while! I cannot promise regular updates, and while I have a general idea of what's happening it is far from being fully written.  
> I do plan on finishing it though.  
> Please have mercy if you see any errors or typos, I'm trying my best but at the end of the day English isn't my mothertongue. (If anyone wish to correct me, please do not hesitate!)  
> For clarity reasons, Conan generally refer to shrunk!Shinichi, while actual teen Shinichi keeps his name (except for the part in the 'future'). If it's still unclear, do not hesitate to ask.  
> Also here, KID doesn't know that Conan is a shrunk Shinichi (though he does suspect there is something wrong with the child).

Shinichi’s head was throbbing. He felt like someone was playing drums with his head. What has happened?

Oh yeah, there was that deal, the money, the mysterious men in black and then…

Someone hit the back of his head. Hard. Probably the other one.

And then… the first one mentioned getting rid of him. A poison? But he doesn’t remember ingesting anything. And he clearly was still alive, the headache was a painful reminder of it. So, what happened next.

He was looking at the grass in front of him, trying to remember. A voice, maybe? He thought he heard someone saying something. Maybe actually getting up would help clear his head.

He considered it. Nah, the floor is nice.

So, there was that voice. Could it have been a policeman, as those men feared? He did say he didn’t want the sound of a gunshot to be heard by them so. Maybe someone else has followed him.

Panic struck him. He hoped it wasn’t Ran who followed him. Strong as she was, these men were dangerous if they weren’t afraid to murder a teenager in cold blood. That thought actually made him try to get up, he needed to make sure Ran was safe!

“Oh, so you’re finally awake.”

He felt his blood freezing in his vein. Has less time passed than he thought, are those men still there? How foolish, he should have made sure he was alone before showing he was awake!

He slowly turned around, fearing the worst, only to see…

A kid?

There was a young kid, probably elementary school age, looking at him. He was sitting on the floor. And playing with a bowtie? What kind of weird kid use bowties these days?

“I’ve called professor Agasa, he’ll come and get you soon, don’t worry.”

This kid knew his neighbour? And why not call an ambulance or the police first, instead of his neighbour?

“Those men…”

“Ah yes, don’t worry, they’re long gone now.”

“We need to call the police”

“Yeah no, nope. I know they hit you hard in the head, but it really isn’t a good idea to bring attention to what happened here.”

“But they’re dangerous! And there was that weird deal going on! And they did try to murder me!”

The kid seemed to be mumbling something to himself, but he really couldn’t hear him over the pounding in his head, and the lack of light made reading lips impossible.

“Look, mister, I know you’re a detective so try to deduce this. Two dangerous murderers make a deal in the dark corner of a park. Upon realising there is a witness, their first reaction is to try and eliminate him, but the appearance of a policeman makes them choose to flee instead, aware that leaving a witness alive is risky but choosing to bet that the hit in the head was enough to make him forget, or at least dissuade him to look further. Now, that witness goes to the police, and since he is quite trusted they choose to listen to him, even though he has nothing but a physical description of them. Do you have any idea of what would happen next?”

So, it was a policeman who unknowingly saved him. But then, where was he now? And why is there only the kid with him now? Oh, he’s staring, better answer his question then.

“I help the police find and catch them, ridding Beika of two dangerous criminal and saving the day?” Somehow, the way the kid was staring at him seemed to indicate it wasn’t the right answer. Since when were kids able to master such a deadpan look?

“Or they find out who snitched on them, and knowing your identity decide to kill you, your family, and anyone to whom you might have told what happened.” Wow, talk about worst ending.

“But the police would notice if suddenly all those people died, wouldn’t they?”

“You know, accidents can happen so quickly. Being at the wrong place at the wrong time and all of that. You might not have noticed but they aren’t afraid to murder any kind of witness in their way.”

Well, considering what almost happened to him, it wasn’t as farfetched to think they would murder more people to keep their deeds secret.

And well, the police being made aware of these two men clearly isn’t a deal worthy of the life of everyone he loves.

But then, that left him with one option.

“I guess then I just have to find out their identity myself, and once I got all the information needed, leave it to the police to arrest them.”

“…oh wow, I’m understanding Haibara so much better now.” He isn’t sure he was supposed to hear that. Who even was this Haibara? And well, this plan wasn’t so bad, was it?

“Anyway, why are you even here kid? And how could you know all of that? After all, there’s nothing saying these two men would go this far just to keep me silent. And didn’t you say there was a policeman here earlier?”

“There never was a policeman here. And trust me on this, these men are a lot more dangerous than you would ever think. Anyway, just leave it be, people a lot more competent than you are already working on arresting them, so you really do not have to worry about them. Just forget anything happened tonight, celebrate you being still alive or whatever teenagers do these days when escaping a near death situation.” Faint footsteps could be heard coming in their direction. “Anyway, that’s cue for me to go. Remember kid, you better keep silent if you don’t want your precious people to be hurt.” There was no way Shinichi was just going to accept that lying down. But while he could probably catch the kid if he wanted to, the idea of running with such a head wound seemed really, really bad. Especially considering how much trouble he had just being upright.

And well, he’s a detective, it probably wouldn’t be that hard to find that kid again for more questions. Well, it would be easier with a name.

Just as the kid was starting to leave, he asked one final question.

“Just who are you, kid?”

“Conan Edogawa, detective. Hope we never see each other again.”

\--

It started with a heist.

This particular heist was supposed to be Conan Edogawa’s last heist before his departure back home to the United States. Most of the Black Organisation has been arrested, and those who weren’t had their names plastered everywhere and little to no chance to escape for long. Haibara had finally found the right formula to make a definitive antidote, ‘Conan’ had said most of his goodbyes to the people he knew, and as a final goodbye Jirokichi Suzuki has chosen to challenge Kaitou Kid in the hope that the Kid Killer might catch him this time. The target of the heist was a long-lost treasure, a gemstone named the Metanoïa, subject of many rumours, and only found recently by the Suzuki corporation.

It's story goes like this: long ago, a king on his deathbed looked back on all his decisions, good and bad. He remembered every act, and their consequences, on him and the people of his kingdom. Now old and weary, he could only wish he had acted differently when he was younger, that he was able to save his people all the pain they went through because of war, that he was able to pursue the lady he loved, that he was able to save his parents from their death. As he told his sons his story, in the wish they wouldn’t make the same mistakes as he, they choose to set up on quests to help their father find peace before his final rest.

The first son brought back stories of the people his father saved during the war, people who were able to live and love and find happiness, only because on that day the king was on the battlefield with them, leading and fighting alongside his subjects. His act may have brought war to them, but he was also the one to bring it to an end, earning more than they lose to it.

The second son brought back stories from the daughter of the woman the king has loved and choose to let go. She said how saddened her mother was, but how she was able to find love again, and while never forgetting the kind king she was able to move on with her life, and only departed recently while surrounded by her whole family.

The third son was aware that stories are nothing compared to the pain the king must have gone through, and thus looked for a wizard. The old wizard gave him a stone, and told him that if he so wishes, upon looking at it in the light of the full moon, the king would be able to find closure among the people he missed the most.

On that night, each son presented to their father what they were able to find. As they left, the old king was crying tears of happiness, to have such devoted sons, going to such length just for him. He knew his kingdom was in good hands. He asked his servant to help move him to the window, where he would be able to look at that jewel in the light of the full moon. He wasn’t one to believe in such magic, but he could agree to admire such a beautiful gem in the clearest of light. As the light shone on him, the servant then declared that the king disappeared in the moonlight, leaving only the stone behind. Sounding the alarm, the whole castle woke up, looking for their king, thinking this might have been a malevolent act from the wizard.

No one was able to find the king until the next morning, where he was found at peace in his bed, smiling in death, a letter on his bedside thanking the wizard and the third son for their most precious gift.

Of course, that was only one of the many versions of the story affiliated to this gem, each more farfetched than the other, but all linked to the person possessing this gem having their wish granted, or a chance to go back and change what they regretted the most.

Shinichi honestly didn’t believe in magic and could see the fairy-tale for the romanticising of history that it was, but no matter what he believed, Kaitou Kid was planning to steal it, and as a detective it was his role to try and stop him.

\--

And thus, the heist began, for once no outside force interfering with it. It was as if the universe itself agreed to let them bring closure to their act of thief and detective, before one of them exit the scene forever.

The Kaitou Kid and the Kid Killer, dancing to their own tune, chasing each other and avoiding each trap the other set. Every other person but a witness, reaching to them but always unable to touch, always waylaid by the slightest of margin. Tonight, is for Kaitou Kid and Edogawa Conan to face each other one last time.

They met on the rooftop.

One step forward, one step back. As is their ritual.

They know how this night will end, and so they keep to their script. One demand, the other refuse, their banter an old, rehearsed song.

The thief lifts the gem to the moonlight. The detective tries to catch him while he is occupied.

And suddenly the script change.

The thief loses his balance, the gem fly, start glowing and when the detective reaches for it...

He disappears.

"Um... Detective?"

To say Kaitou Kid was surprised would be an understatement. He knew Conan could be dramatic, but usually he was the one for the flashy exit.

He saw something flashing and caught the gem in its descent.

Curiouser and curiouser... Conan isn't generally the kind of person to leave so quickly, especially without getting back (or at least, trying very hard to get back) the subject of the heist.

For the detective to disappear like that... other forces might be at work.

Or it could be a trap on his part. It wouldn’t be the first time that the young detective tries some elaborate scheme in the hope of catching him.

\--

He closes his eyes as he stares at the gem, feeling it slip from his hand. The fall is brief, and yet, even before opening his eyes he feels like something has changed.

Something is wrong.

He opens his eyes and stop at what he sees.

Stop, and stare.

Because this place clearly isn't the rooftop of the museum where the heist was held.

It isn't even a rooftop.

This is an attraction parc, and an awfully familiar one at that.

But how the hell would he end up at Tropical Land, considering seconds ago he was on the rooftop of the museum?

And where could Kid be? Did he somehow quickly bring him here? But then why? And how? The museum was hours away from Tropical Land, there was no way for Kid to somehow bring him here with no one, least of all himself, noticing. Unless more time than he thought has passed, but he only closed his eyes for a second, when the gem start reflecting the light of the moon, and he doesn’t feel like he’s been unconscious at all.

That reminded him of that legend associated to the gem. But, nah, there’s no way this is some kind of magic stone able to teleport people, there is most likely some rational reason for him being here.

And to find it, he has no other choice but to investigate.

\--

The first sign that something is wrong is when he heard a couple talk about rumours of a beheading happening here. It isn’t wrong per se, a murder by decapitation did happen, but by now it was more than a year ago and few people actually remembered that accident, or even talked about it.

The second sign is the amount of police officer roaming about, way more than is required for simple park security, closer to the amount there usually is when a murder case has happened. Now a murder could have happened that day, except he hasn’t heard anything about it yet, and he did meet with Megure and Takagi earlier and they would have probably mentioned something like that happening.

And the third sign is when the Detective Boys, without Haibara, pass him by – and didn’t stop. Didn’t even acknowledge him. And considering the kind of radar they got concerning anything related to his presence, this is one of the weirdest things to have happened that day.

Finally, he finds his answer in a newspaper left on a bench. It was obviously one of these newspapers distributed for free, and the lack of wear indicate it must be from today. But inside, no mentions of the Kid Heist, or of that murder he helped solved the day before. Only an article about Shinichi Kudo, and how he helped solved another case. A murder he helped solve a year ago, but that the newspaper spoke of as if it was very recent news. Because this newspaper was dated on the same day his life took a sharp turn for the worst.

Whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. And well, there was an easy way to check.

After all, Conan didn’t think he could forget the place where his life as Shinichi was stolen from him, no matter how hard he tried.

\--

The ride home with Agasa was quiet. The old inventor clearly had a lot of questions but choose to first let Shinichi rest for a bit, answers could wait until his wounds are dressed correctly. And the young man was clearly lost in thoughts.

Before he knew it, they have arrived at his home. Shinichi started to walk toward his house, but Agasa stopped him, leading him inside his own home instead. He sat him on his couch, before leaving to find some spare bandages from the last time Shinichi went to patch him up after a failed experiment. When he came back Shinichi was laying on the sofa, staring at the ceiling as if it held answers to all his questions.

“Alright Shinichi, let me have a look at your head wound, then you can tell me what actually happened tonight.”

Shinichi turned toward him, having clearly heard him, but still didn’t get up.

“Shinichi? Are you alright?”

“Sorry professor, I was lost in thoughts. What were you saying?”

“Are you sure you’re alright, Shinichi? I was asking you to get back up, so that I could have a look at your head. The bleeding seems to have stopped, but I still want to have a look at that wound.”

Shinichi got up at that, but still didn’t answer. Was he alright? He wasn’t sure himself. Now looking back on it, he _was_ lucky to still be alive. Had it not been for that kid being there, he most likely would have been fed that poison, and then who know what would have happened to him.

But who was that kid? Did he knew Shinichi would be there? How could he have known that? How was he able to scare those men? How and why would he call Agasa? What did he even tell Agasa to make him trust a kid’s call?

He was a mystery. And as a detective, it was his duty to find out the truth.

And there is one person who can at least answer some of those questions now.

“Professor, how did you know to come and get me?”

Agasa blinked at that question, pausing as he was bandaging his head, as if the answer should have been obvious to Shinichi.

“You were the one to call me, asking me to come and get you at Tropical Land. Did you forget about it? Is it because of that hit on your head?”

Shinichi frowned. He was sure he wasn’t the one to have called Agasa, partly because the kid said he was the one to have done it, and mostly because Shinichi didn’t have a phone on him. While cell phones were starting to get popular, he hasn’t put much thought into getting one yet. And he is sure he hasn’t moved from the alleyway between the moment he got knocked out and the moment Agasa’s arrived.

“Um no, I wasn’t the one who called. There was a young kid? Like primary school age?”

“Are you sure? There was no one when I arrived, and I am sure I heard your voice on the phone.”

“It’s because he left right before you arrived, but he did say he was the one to have called you.”

“Did you asked him to call me?”

“Well no, he has already done it by the time I woke up.”

“But then how could he have known to call me, instead of getting a guard or the police?”

“That’s what I was wondering about. Nothing this kid did made sense!”

“Why don’t you walk me through what happened. I only know that you’ve been hurt, and that you didn’t want the police or an ambulance involved.”

Scepticism could be seen on Agasa’s face. And well, Shinichi could understand considering how surreal it all felt, had he not been the one living it he would have had trouble believing it too.

“What exactly did he told you on that call?” This would help him have an idea of how much to tell.

“Well, you only said that you witnessed something but got hit in the head, that you didn’t needed to go to the hospital and there was nothing to tell the police. Then you told me where to find you exactly in the park, that you would explain later and hung up before I could ask anything else.”

Well that didn’t help at all. Was that blanket permission to tell Agasa the truth? Should he keep quiet?

Can he even keep quiet to Agasa? The man has known him since childhood, and he might not press but he would totally know if Shinichi was lying. And it would be bad if he somehow got involved without actually knowing what’s happening.

Uuuuuuuuuummm.

“Shinichi? Are you sure you do not need a doctor?” Now Agasa was getting worried. He had been through enough explosion to know the signs of concussion, and while Shinichi wasn’t totally out of it, he was clearly showing some symptoms.

Maybe he really should have brought him to the hospital first.

“No, no, it would be dangerous to bring attention to what happened to me tonight. According to the kid at least.” Alright, now Agasa was really worried. What could have had happened for Shinichi to be this cautious about an assault on his person. And who was this mysterious kid?

“Alright, tell me everything that has happened, and do not even think about leaving anything out.”

Ooh the stern look. It has been a while since Shinichi last received it. He could feel himself straightening as if he was seven again and trying to hide that he ate all the cookies.

“Um so there was this murder on the rollercoaster, she killed her ex by beheading him because he broke up with him and tried to put the blame on his current girlfriend, so I solved it and on the same cart there were these two men, wearing all black, and the tall one had a look in his eyes, as if he had murdered so many persons that it couldn’t even affect him anymore. So of course, when I saw one of them later on, I left Ran to see what they were up to.” Shinichi could feel the disappointment wafting from Agasa, but the old man didn’t comment. Just send him that look of neutral judgement.

“And so I saw him make some kind of deal with a businessman, and there was like a lot of money involved. And as I was taking out my camera to take some picture-” Wait, his camera! There might still be proof on it! He started to check his pockets but couldn’t find it. Maybe it would still be on the scene. He starts to get up, closing his eyes as his vision got blurry. “Professor do you think we can go back to check if my camera is still there? There might be proof on it!” Only to be stopped by the professor’s hand on his shoulder.

“Wait up Shinichi, by now the park is most likely closed. Finish telling me what happened first and then we can try to call them.”

“Alright, so I took some pictures, and then the tall one sneaked behind me, and hit me really hard with some kind of metal bat. They were talking about feeding me some poison, except they must have heard someone coming because they just left, and that’s when I blacked out. By the time I woke up there was this little kid waiting for me to wake up, he told me that he has called you, and that I shouldn’t pursue what happened tonight because it would be too dangerous. He left right before you arrived.”

Now Agasa looked really worried. Shinichi felt bad to have worried the old man like that but saying out loud what has happened did help clear his mind a bit.

“Shinichi, what did we say about following suspicious character without informing anyone? It is not because it ended well today that it would always be the case.” Uh-oh.

So maybe following suspicious people wearing black, whose eyes are those of murderers, in a dark alley, away from any kind of witness, wasn’t his greatest idea. But it’s not like he could have guessed that one of them would just hit him that hard with a baseball bat! Where did he even find that bat anyway?

Thankfully he was saved from answering by someone ringing the doorbell.

Why was someone ringing the doorbell this late?

He felt himself pale. Could those men in black be back to finish the job? Does the kid somehow knows he spilt out the truth and is here to punish him?

“Professor… Were you expecting anyone tonight?”

Somehow the professor didn’t seem to understand his panic. He calmly starts walking toward the door. “No, but I’m sure this is nothing, why are you so worried?”

The person at the door seemed to get impatient, ringing again.

They could hear a voice through the door.

Suddenly Shinichi calmed down, recognising this voice. Now he felt a bit dumb to have worried that much.

“Professor, are you here? This is Ran!”

Agasa went to invite her inside. “Ah good evening Ran! Is everything alright?”

“Have you seen Shinichi tonight? I tried calling him and knocking at his door but there was no answer…”

“Oh yes, he’s with me, why don’t you come inside first?”

Shinichi lifted a hand in greeting as Ran went inside. “Yo, Ran”

“Shinichi! What took you to just disappear like that, do you have any idea how worried I was!”

“Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine! I just thought I saw something but I was mistaken, then I went home before coming here to catch up with the professor.”

“Then why is your head bandaged? And what about those stains on your vest?”

He took a lot and, yep, his vest was covered in mud, and he could even see some blood on the side. This won’t be fun to wash.

“Shinichi?”

Oh, he forgot to answer.

“I just, uh, fell. Outside in the park. And hit my head. That is why I asked the professor to come and get me at the park.”

“I thought you went here after coming home.”

Oh no, he could see the worry in her eyes.

“Are you sure you are alright Shinichi?”

“Don’t worry I’ll be fine! Today was just a bit tiring is all, and it is getting late now.” He smiled to sell off his point. See, perfectly fine, no need to worry.

There was no point in telling her he just barely survived an attempt on his life, that would only make her worry more. But he could see from the look in her eyes that she didn’t fully believe him. Of all the times to be a terrible liar! He always felt terrible for worrying her.

He looked pleadingly at Agasa, hoping the old man would understand and helps him.

“Don’t worry Ran, he received quite the hit on his head but so far it seems to be healing nicely. And I am planning to keep him here tonight to keep an eye on it.”

This wasn’t helping. Her brows furrowed, but maybe she could feel she wouldn’t get anything more out of them for now.

She sighed dejectedly.

“Have you at least eaten tonight?”

He could feel his stomach rumble as an answer. Agasa start sheepishly laughing.

“Well I was planning on heading to Columbo before I’ve received Shinichi’s call, and then I guess it just skipped our mind.”

“Let me call my dad and then I can get started on dinner.”

“You do not have to! I do not want to impose on you like that, really!”

Her look clearly said that she wouldn’t give up on this. The professor seemed to realise it as well, as he guided her to the phone. He could vaguely hear her talking to her dad but couldn’t seem to focus on their conversation. Not that he needed to know, really.

“Alright dad told me it was fine for me to stay, since he had to leave for a case so he won’t be home for dinner.”

That picked Shinichi’s interest. “A case? What kind?”

“Oh no mister, _you_ need to rest. My dad is competent enough to solve it on his own.”

He looked pleadingly at her, but she wouldn’t be quelled. A case would be the perfect thing to focus his mind on something else!

Another pleading looks. Her only response was to snort and leave for the kitchen.

Hey at least he got her to lighten up!

\--

Well, that was one good thing done, thought Conan as he left Tropical Land.

So, he was really in the past. Maybe there was more truth to this stone’s story than he thought. But while the king came back in the morning after having seemingly right his wrong, Conan was still here even after having saved his past self.

His continued existence and the lack of new memories seem to indicate that, no matter what he changed here, this wouldn’t directly impact him or cause some kind of time paradox leading to the end of the world. Of course, it might still be too early to be sure, but he had a feeling someone would have noticed had the stone been able to erase the world. Or something.

So now, he needed to find a way back. A thorough check earlier, while his past self was still unconscious, showed that he didn’t have the gem with him anymore. This would be one avenue to look for, since it seemed to be the thing that brought him here it should be able to bring him back. On that note, Kid was on that rooftop with him, so there might be a chance he came back in time as well, even if the fact he wasn’t with him put doubt to that theory.

Well, it was all this damn thief fault, so he was obligated to help him, past version or not.

At least, the fact he was at a heist means that he is also stocked full of Agasa’s gadget, so that was one less thing to worry about.

So, to find a way to contact Kaitou Kid, and to find a way back to his present. This couldn’t be any harder than to take down a super-secret criminal syndicate while hiding as a seven-year-old in primary school.

Hopefully, it will be a lot quicker.

He lifts his head as he heard a familiar voice hail a taxi. Without even realising, his steps had guided him to the Mouri Detective Agency. Oh, he would need to find a place to stay as well, isn’t he? The agency was out, if only for the fact he really didn’t wanted to go to primary school ever again.

Could the old man be headed to a case? Let’s see, if he remembered well, on the night he arrived… it was the fake turned real kidnapping case. Memorable for the beatdown he received from the culprit, before being saved by Ran.

Oh no, Ran was going to murder him for disappearing like that again.

He’d better find a way back soon. While she had accepted the fact he was Shinichi and that his disappearance was necessary to his continued survival, he really didn’t look forward to explain why he disappeared again before he even came back.

But first he had a little girl to rescue.

He considered somehow getting into the same taxi but without Ran as a buffer Kogoro probably wouldn’t take well to a random kid following him to a case. Well, it would be quicker to go directly to the school where the kidnapper was hidden anyway.

\--

Conan has miscalculated.

While knocking out the kidnapper was only a matter of minutes (and take that! he would feel that bruise come morning. That’s what you get for threatening and hitting children!), he has forgotten something important.

That is, how to lead Kogoro to the kidnapper in a way the old man would get the credit. He remembered this being one of the first case for Kogoro’s “stroke of luck”, and the fact that the client was rich would only help his reputation. They may not have directly spoken about it, but he knew the old man needed the money from the cases, and even if this time around there was no little brat to feed, this also mean there would be no money coming from his parents and no “Sleeping Kogoro”.

Maybe he could call Ran, using his voice as Shinichi? It might be awkward to explain how he got here but she would be able to guide her dad here. And then he would just have to manipulate them into giving credit to Kogoro.

Of course, this plan had a major flaw in the fact that Ran didn’t have a cell phone at this point in time.

Conan felt like hitting his head against the wall. He didn’t think he would miss this much the cell phone revolution with how reticent he was to get his own phone at first, but now he couldn’t imagine life without.

What if he used the kidnapper’s voice to give them clues leading here then? No, they might end up suspecting something is fishy, or start believing this is some kind of elaborate con, and something too discreet would totally fly over that old man’s head.

The little girl kept staring at him as if he was some kind of alien. Maybe he should use her voice? Pretend she managed to escape and guide them here. But then Kogoro might not get the credit if he is not seen as the one who found her.

He starts walking in circles around the kidnapper. He would have to find the perfect clue to give to Kogoro, to make sure he’ll know to head here. It needs to be straightforward enough to be obvious to the old man, but not too obvious either.

“Are you an apprentice policeman?” While the girl had kept quiet so far, it seemed she has come to the conclusion he wasn’t a threat. Or maybe she was just getting bored.

He had been overthinking this. If he says he’s Kogoro’s apprentice, not only would the detective get the credit as his ‘mentor’, that will potentially give him some leeway on future cases. He would just have to make sure Kogoro actually run with him on that.

Well even if he didn’t the adults would just believe he’s a lying kid and still give credit to Kogoro.

“No! I am the apprentice of the detective Mouri Kogoro! He knew you would be there and asked me to get you. Come on, let’s call them now!” With that said, he grabbed the kidnapper’s phone.

He barely heard the tone that it was picked up. He cut the father’s question before he could even ask:

“Hi! This is Mouri Kogoro’s apprentice, I was calling to tell you I have found your daughter!”

“His apprentice you say!” in a slightly lower tone, he heard “I didn’t know you had an apprentice, Mister Mouri”.

Even more distantly he heard a “My what?” but cut back the conversation before they could actually question his claims.

“Yes! It was him who told me to start looking into the plausible schools! He knew the kidnapper wouldn’t suspect him to delegate, and in case he had an accomplice keeping an eye on your house he wanted to play it safe.”

“Oh that is well thought-of!” He could hear the sound of a hit, most likely he was patting Kogoro on the shoulder. “Well done, Mister Mouri, well done!”

“Yes, that is exactly what I told him! We are currently at Futasubashi middle, we’ll wait for you at the entrance.”

“Thank you so much, thank you so much! Can you pass me my daughter please, I wish to make sure she is fine.”

“Yes of course!” He passed the phone to Akiko. He then made sure the kidnapper was well tied, before leading the way to the outside.

She didn’t let down the phone for a second, keeping a constant chatter with her dad. He didn’t try to stop her, he knew how stressful this kind of situation could be and everyone deals differently.

They barely reached the entrance that a car came screeching to a halt in front of them. Conan held himself defensively in front of Akiko, on the off-chance that this wasn’t actually her dad, but his doubts didn’t last long as the door flung open and Mister Tani came out, followed closely by the butler Aso and Kogoro.

Conan was planning on their reunion to discreetly go away, but it seemed Akiko had another idea in mind as she strong fully grabbed his arm and led him to her dad.

“Dad! Mister Aso! I am so sorry, I won’t do it again!”

“Oh Akiko I am so happy to see you! Are you alright, did he hurt you in any way?”

Her grip didn’t falter even as her father start hugging and checking her at the same time. Conan tried again to go away, to no avail.

“I’m alright dad! This young detective rescued me before he could even think about hurting me!”

Tani seemed to only notice her daughter tagalong now.

“Ah! So you’re the famous apprentice I guess. Thank you so much for helping my daughter!”

Conan scratched his head with his free hand. “Ahah, it’s nothing you know, I only followed Mister Mouri’s instructions!”

For some reason, Kogoro kept quiet. Conan chanced a glance at him, but the detective was only staring at him, as if trying to place him. He really, really hoped the old man wouldn’t call him out on his lies.

Still, Mister Tani bowed to him. “I still wish to thank you, without your help who know what could have happened to my daughter.” He then turned toward Kogoro: “And thank you as well, Mister Mouri. I might have chosen your agency because it was the closest, but I will be sure to tell everyone how helpful you have been.”

Kogoro preened. “It was only natural that I would find this place, after all nothing escape Kogoro Mouri!”

Ah, never change old man.

At this point, the butler seemed finally unable to restrain himself. He bowed to the floor in front of his employer:

“Mister Tani! There is no word to explain my shame, for this all happened because of me. I am unworthy of being your servant!”

“Nonsense, nonsense, what is this all about Aso? I would never expect you to fight back against an armed man, and the fact that you declared the kidnapping so quickly helped us in lead to find my daughter quicker.”

At the same time, Akiko declared “No! It’s not his fault, it was my plan at first!”

“No young miss! I should have been more careful, or I should have stopped you! I am the only one to blame here.”

At this point Tani lowered himself in front of Aso. “Get up, get up, and how about you both explain to me what this all mean?”

And thus Aso started explaining, how Akiko wanted to spend more time with her father, and thus planned to stage a kidnapping so he would pay attention to her. Akiko followed by saying how she got kidnapped at the hotel, and how she was rescued by Conan. With their attentions on the tale, Conan tried to escape once again.

But this time, it was Kogoro’s hand that stopped him.

He started to chuckle nervously as Kogoro led him a bit farther.

“Mister?” Conan didn’t have time to say more as Kogoro crouched to his level to look him directly in the eyes.

“Now kid, I appreciate the help here, but that was a dangerous situation. How did you even ended up here, and how did you knew I would be working on this case?” Oh, Kogoro was really serious about that. Maybe it was simply because to him he was an unknown kid running around late at night with no supervision, or maybe it was because he looked a lot like another young detective who enjoys running into trouble, but it wouldn’t do for Conan to be investigated too closely.

He tried to walk away but Kogoro stopped him. Conan chuckled nervously. “It’s because I want to be a detective too! And then I saw you mister saying you got a case, so I followed you, and I tried to solve it myself! But I was really just lucky in the end! I knew you probably already knew where they were so I didn’t wanted to steal your credit mister!” It was maybe a bit thick, but hopefully the praise would make Kogoro less suspect.

And it seemed to work, as the man start to laugh madly at the sky. “Why of course! The world has yet to see how great of a detective I am, but I see you got a good eye young man!”

Conan felt himself deadpan. Ah, maybe in your dreams, old man.

“Now tell me where you live, so that I can drop you off to your parents.”

Uh-oh, this wouldn’t do.

“Oh no it’s alright mister, I do not want to take up your time. I live close, I can just walk there.”

“Nonsense, at this time of the night? What kind of parents would let their kid out this late?”

The kind that isn’t even in the country.

Well, time for a distraction tactic.

Conan gasped. He pointed somewhere behind Kogoro. “Is that Okino Yoko !?”

“As if I would fall for something like that.” But as he said it, Kogoro still chanced a glance behind him. It wouldn’t do to miss such an occasion!

Conan used that time wisely to hide away. Hopefully the detective would forget all about him by the end of the week.

On the side, the family looked at him at his sudden movement. This led Mister Tani to look at his watch.

“Oh my, look at the time! Mister Mouri, I cannot thank you enough for all you’ve done! If you wish I can arrange a ride for you back home.”

Conan left as they were making arrangements. His job here was done, and it has been a long day.

\--

Conan ended up retreating at the Kudo Manor to spend the night. There was no light when he arrived, but with the late hour it was possible his past-self was simply asleep.

He headed toward one of the guest room that he knew he never used to check up on, making sure to stay quiet. It wouldn’t do to alert him that anything was amiss.

As he lay on the bed, he starts to think up a plan. He couldn’t just wait and hope for things to resolve themselves, it has never worked for him and it probably wouldn’t start now. First, he needed to get in contact with Kid, whether or not he came back to the past as well he was his best chance at finding his way home. Failing that, he would most likely need to contact his parents. Interacting with them would be a pain, but they would be able to provide different resources to help him.

While he was here he should probably help this reality with their little crows problem. In this case, hindsight truly was a gift.

Speaking of changing things, he would have some people to visit, and some letters to write…

He stifled a yawn. It truly was getting late. Making sure he had everything close to him in case trouble arise, he let sleep take him away.

For all he knew, he would wake up back home to the Mouri Agency as if today had never happened…

\--

Shinichi woke up with the mother of all headaches in an unfamiliar room, the sun shining straight into his eyes.

A quick look-around showed that he was in Agasa’s guest room. He slowly got up. Urg, what the hell has happened.

He headed downstairs, looking for some kind of pain medicine. Agasa was already seated in the kitchen, tinkering with something or other.

“Good morning Shinichi! Are you feeling better this morning?” How can one be so cheerful this early in the morning?

“Morning Professor. I feel like someone tried to brain me to death with a club, do you have any painkiller?”

The professor chuckled weakly. “From what you told me, that is almost what happened.” He still got up and start looking in various cupboard. “I think I must have something like that in here… just need to find it, really.”

Clarity came back to him with the events of the day before. “Oh shit someone tried to kill me.”

Agasa was staring at him.

“Did you actually forgot about it?”

“… no?”

Agasa looked disappointedly at him.

“Are you sure you do not want to see a doctor?”

“No no, I already feel better now anyway.” A hard stare. Shinichi rolled his eyes. “Alright, I promise I will go see a doctor if things get any worse.”

“Good. Here, I found the painkiller.”

“Thanks professor.” Shinichi went to grab a glass of water to drown them down.

“So Shinichi, what are you planning to do now?”

“Isn’t that obvious? I’m going to find these men and have them arrested.”

Agasa blinked.

“Didn’t you say they were dangerous? Wouldn’t it be better to leave it to the police?”

Shinichi waved his hand in a negative motion.

“The kid had a point yesterday, there’s very little the police would be able to do in this case. Especially since they couldn’t find my camera in the park yesterday, those men probably took it to destroy it when they left.” Shinichi looked through the cupboard for something to eat. Agasa pushed toward him his own packet of biscuits.

“Shinichi, I didn’t want to bring this up yesterday, but are you sure that this kid, this Conan, was real?”

Shinichi sent him a flat stare. “What, are you saying he’s just some kind of elaborate hallucination?” He scoffed.

Agasa’s silence was an answer on its own.

“You can’t be serious.” Agasa sipped his coffee. “I think I would have noticed if I hallucinated something so hare-brained!” Silence. “And how would you explain the fact that he called you yesterday? I wasn’t the only one to interact with him!”

“But I only heard your voice on the phone.”

“I don’t know, he probably got some kind of tool for that. He was also able to imitate the voice of the guy who hit me.”

Agasa’s silence spoke of his disbelief.

Shinichi rolled his eyes. “Alright then, I’ll just have to find that kid and get the answers I need.” He drank a sip of coffee. “How hard could it be to find him anyway.”

\--

In the neighbour’s house, Conan sneezed.

\--

Ran was setting the table for breakfast when her father came down. She hasn’t heard him coming back yesterday but she went to sleep fairly early as she was still worried about Shinichi, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the case he was working on ended up fairly late.

He waited until they were both seated to ask her:

“Oi Ran, do you know if that detective brat got any siblings? Or a cousin or something?”

“Shinichi you mean? Not as a far as I know, no. I remember him telling me both of his parents were single children. Why are you asking?”

“Eh it’s nothing, forget about it.”

Decidedly, everyone was acting weird lately. Ran decided to shelf it for later, maybe her dad saw a look alike and thought they were related to Shinichi, it wouldn’t be the first time they see someone similar. But usually her father didn’t really care about that.

Kogoro himself was still thinking about the kid who ditched him last night. There was something very suspicious about him, and he clearly hasn’t told him the full truth. He thought he was maybe related to that detective brat who befriended his daughter, since they did look a bit alike, but this seemed to be a dead end.

Well, no point worrying about that now, it’s not like he was likely to see that kid again anytime soon.

\--

It was the absence of noise that woke Conan. He quickly opened his eyes, taking stock of where he was.

Oh, that was right. He has spent the night in one the guest room of his house. Looks like going to sleep wasn’t able to send him back to his right time then.

He sighed as he mused his hair. Time for plan B then: contacting Kaitou Kid.

\--

Kaitou Kid was not worried.

Not Worried At All.

After all, the detective was very competent. Wherever he was now, he would most likely be fine.

Right.

After all what kind of trouble could be caused by a magic disappearance caused by a magic stone.

Really, Conan would most likely be fine. Kaito should really be more worried about himself. After all, he will be the one who’ll have to face the wrath of one Karate-champion, overprotective big sister, about the disappearance of her little brother. Disappearance directly linked to his heist.

With any chance he would be able to get the little detective back before anyone even notice he’s not here anymore.

He pocketed the gem, with no detective to take it back from him it would be better to keep a hold on it, at least until he found where his small nemesis might have disappeared.

Now first, to check that the detective hadn’t simply ditched him.

After that, he had a witch to visit.


	2. The Case Of The Mysterious Kid

Shinichi felt like he jinxed himself.

After hours of fruitless search, he can finally admit: maybe finding Conan Edogawa would be harder than he first thought.

The internet provided nothing besides references to Edogawa Ranpo, looking into local newspaper showed even less information. While the phone book listed a few Edogawa families in Beika, calling them proved to be a dead end. He tried to contact Tropical Land but they couldn’t help him, there were simply too many people to notice a single child.

He considered asking Megure for information but that would lead to questions he wasn’t ready to answer yet.

On that same note, he was also unable to find anything about those men in black. Any scrap of information that could be linked to them only led him from dead end to dead end, it was as if they didn’t existed.

Frustation ate at him. If only a good case could appear now.

\--

Kogoro has reached a new level of heaven, the kind reserved for lucky night at mahjong and winning at horse races.

For no one else than the beautiful, utterly perfect Yoko Okino went through the trouble of hiring him.

They were almost to her home now, where he would do his utmost best to solve her stalker problem (and how could someone dare to bother such an angel?)

Yoko opened the door to her apartment, but as she turned to lead their little group inside…

She let out a gasp at whatever she saw inside and took a step back.

Kogoro came running, what could have surprised Yoko in such a way? What kind of danger await her in her own house?

He glared at the man kneeling in dogeza in her living room.

“Miss Yoko, do you know that person?”

That seemed to bring her out of her shock. And the man took that as a sign to start talking.

“Yoko! I am sorry for all the trouble I might have caused you!”

“Who are you to speak to her so familiarly!” Kogoro roared as he pointed a finger to him.

The man didn’t stop. “I have thought about my comportment and I realise now how inappropriate it was. I shouldn’t have tried to follow you like that even after you moved to a new apartment. I can only wish for your forgiveness, but you have to understand! I still love you, Yoko!”

Yoko gasped. Kogoro was still standing protectively in front of her but she took a step closer. Somehow, the young man seemed to prostate even further.

“I have never stopped loving you! Every day, ever since we left high school, I kept thinking about you! I want to see you smile and laugh everyday, even if the price is your idol career!”

Yoko finally went through the barrier that was Kogoro. “Please get up Akiyoshi, we cannot hope to discuss this if you stay on the ground like that.”

He got up under Kogoro’s distrustful gaze. In the entrance, Manager Yamagishi was doing everything he could to make himself be forgotten.

“So does it mean it was you who has been following me and moving my furniture around? Sending me all those pictures? Why would you go to such extreme, why not simply come and talk to me?” There was something wavering in her eyes, as if she could feel tears coming due to such a betrayal of trust. Kogoro wanted to be her knight in armour.

This man clearly didn’t deserve her!

“Oh Yoko, while I did try to talk to you in the streets, and even in this same complex, I would never send you threatening pictures! It is even my first time in your apartment today. I only got in because I was following you, and I stayed because I really wanted to say sorry today, especially after you ran away from me with such force!”

Yoko was looking confused now. “But I was at the studio for the whole day, I only just came back.”

“But I saw you, Yoko!”

“Are you calling her a liar!” Kogoro refused to let this man invade Yoko’s house and call her a liar. How dare he! He tried to take a threatening step toward him but was stop by Yoko’s figure.

“You even tried to attack me!” Kogoro snorted.

“There’s no way such a fragile person like Yoko would try to fight someone like you.” Once again, Kogoro’s remark went ignored. Ran wasn’t sure she could be more ashamed of her father.

Yoko shook her head. “No it’s impossible, I haven’t seen you since you broke up with me.”

Silence settled. A frown marred both of their face. Clearly, there was another actor in this play that hasn’t been uncovered yet.

Well, it was his time to shine! “Worry not miss Yoko, I will find your other stalker, word of Kogoro Mouri!”

He took on a more serious face and approached the man. What was his name again? “You, tell me your name, and everything you know about this person you said you saw inside.”

And thus he start spilling his story. Fujie Akiyoshi, 22, was Yoko’s ex-boyfriend in high school. Recently he left his job and wanted to renew his relationship with Yoko. He did admit to stalking her to find where she lives, but only got the courage to approach her today.

He saw her going inside her apartment and tried to call out to her, but she simply ignored him. When he tried to grab her, she fought back before fleeing.

A frown marred Yoko’s face.

After that, he chose to simply wait for her to come back inside the appartement.

“I see. And you, Yoko, confirms that you weren’t the person Fujie confronted?”

“Yes, I haven’t been back at all today, and Yamagishi can confirm it.” The manager confirmed it, today has been a busy day of recording for Yoko and she wouldn’t have had time to go home.

“I see. Have you lost your key recently, or is there anyone who might have had the occasion to make a copy of your house key?”

Yoko fidgeted a bit at that. “Mister Yamagishi owns a copy of my key, but it was lost recently. It was since then that I started being stalked.”

Kogoro turned to the manager. He narrowed his glare. “Are you sure you didn’t just said that so you wouldn’t be suspected?”

Yamagishi was flustered and he quickly denied “No of course not! What would I even gain from doing something like that?”

Um, he was clearly hiding something. Kogoro stared. The manager didn’t give anything, but he started fidgeting more.

Ran intervened. “Maybe we can try asking the reception desk? They might have seen who it was.”

Just as they were going to head out, someone opened the door. The door that was locked.

Look like they just found the missing key.

“Alright Yoko I’m willing to talk, what do you want?” The speaker paused upon seeing her audience. “What are you all doing here? Did you set up a trap?”

“Yuko? Why are you here?” Yoko sounded genuinely puzzled at that.

She turned harshly toward Yoko. “Why? You’re the one who phoned me, telling me to come here!”

Kogoro put himself between them. “Please calm down, who are you and how did you get inside?”

She backed up. “Tch. I’m Yuko Ichikawa, and the only reason I came is because Yoko phoned me, telling me to meet her in her apartment to talk about her stalker problem.”

Kogoro pointed at her. “But you didn’t need help to open the door, meaning you are the one who stole the spare key!”

She seemed shocked but quickly composed herself. “What’s telling you the door wasn’t already open uh? What’s with the baseless accusation.”

Yoko was the one to answer. “The door lock by itself whenever it closes.”

Silence hang in the room.

“Yuko… Why would you do something like that?” Yoko didn’t sounded mad, only disappointed.

She put her hands in the air. “Alright Miss Perfect, I’ll tell you!”

And thus she explained to them how she acted as a stalker, aiming to scare Yoko because she hated how well-composed she always appeared. She also confirms being the one Fujie accosted earlier.

Kogoro took a confident pose. “And thus I have found your stalker! Another case solved by the great Mouri!” He started to laugh.

Ran sighed. She took her father by the arm and start getting away, leaving the young adults to their conversation. Okino bowed a last time to Kogoro as a thanks and promised to still pay him even if the case has pretty much resolved itself.

The last thing Kogoro heard was Fujie talking about a little kid who helped him understand, who has probably been sent by the gods to put him back on the right path. Truly, an angel in human form.

Kogoro snorted, the only angel here was Yoko!

\--

In the complex lobby, Conan sneezed. He really hoped he wasn’t coming down with a cold.

\--

As was usual, Ran met Shinichi in front of his house so they could make their way to school together. His search on either Conan or the men in black still bear no fruit, and the frustration he felt about that led him nowhere. It has been four days since he went to Tropical Land, he should have found something already, but it was as if none of them existed. He was kicking a pebble on the way as Ran explained to him her father’s case from the day before.

“And so you say they all ended up settling it peacefully? And your dad didn’t even need to do his job?” That was weird, residents of Beika weren’t really knows for peacefully solving their issues. It would have been a lot less weird had the ex-boyfriend killed himself trying to blame Yoko because of the whole misunderstanding.

“Yes, Yoko even said she wasn’t going to press charges against any of them.”

Shinichi snort. “From what you told me she should put a restraining order on that guy.”

Ran rolled her eyes. “But there are still two mysteries we never got answer for.”

“Oh, really?” Now Shinichi sounded interested. Nothing like a good mystery to start the day!

“Yeah, there was this child who encouraged Fujio to actually talk with Yoko, and we still do not know who called Yuko.”

“Didn’t she say it was Yoko?”

“That’s the thing, Yoko was with us when Yuko was called, but she swore it was her voice she heard!”

“Uh, weird.” They exchanged various theories on the way to school, from a voice-stealer monster (“Those aren’t real, Ran”) to a pre-enregistered message sent automatically to her phone (“But she actually held a conversation Shinichi!”).

They still haven’t found a likely answer by the time they reached their seats.

Their conversation got cut when Sonoko threw her newspaper on Ran’s desk. "Ran! Have you seen the news! Someone has dared to challenge Kaitou Kid!”

“Good morning to you too Sonoko.” Ran sounded a bit exasperated at Sonoko, but still took a look at the newspaper.

“Yeah yeah, good morning, but look! An anonymous has sent a calling card to the police, directly defying Kaitou Kid to a battle of wits!”

The article was on the front page. Right in the centre was a picture of the calling card, Ran couldn’t make head or tails of what it meant, but she did notice the caricature of KID logo. It was clearly modelled after the thief’s, but this one had glasses, dark hair and a bowtie instead of the top hat and monocle of the thief. She starts skimming the article but it seemed they didn’t know who could have send the card, or what did the message meant beside an obvious challenge to the thief.

“Who’s this Kaitou Kid anyway?” The name sounded vaguely familiar to Shinichi, but he couldn’t place it.

Sonoko send her the most judgemental look she had in store. “Don’t you keep up with the news, oh great detective? He’s an international jewel thief who has made a recent comeback, he always announces his heist and turn them into a magical show. Everyone has heard about him!”

“Well, you should know by now that thieves doesn’t really interest me.”

Sonoko let out a haughty hum. “You murder maniac.” Ran still passed him the newspaper, and she saw how his gaze got stuck on the calling card. She smiled, knowing how much he loved a good puzzle.

Sonoko saw what made Ran smile and sighed. “You better give me back this newspaper when you’re done, oh great detective.”

But Shinichi was already lost in thoughts trying to decipher the message.

\--

Kuroba Kaito was staring at the newspaper. Ever since he had taken back the mantle of Kaitou Kid to follow in his father’s footsteps, there has been cases of people sending a calling card in his name and he usually showed up if only to show them why it was a bad idea to impersonate him. But this has to be the first time someone actually challenged him in that way.

And a challenge it was, the message seemed almost innocent at first glance, but already he could see layers upon layers of possible meanings.

He felt a grin widen on his face. Oh yes, this was going to be really interesting.

\--

Kogoro was enjoying a nice fresh beer after a job well-done. Finally some rest after tailing some weird guy for three days!

At least, the pay was nice. He starts grinning as he imagine how he was going to spend it all. The TV was on in the lounge, he was mostly waiting for Yoko Okino’s next show but it’s always good to stay informed of the news.

He took a nice, large gulp of beer.

And almost spit it back out when the news segment started.

“Yutaka Abe, 42, has been arrested for attempted murder.”

He coughed as he tried to get back his breath. The new segment continued without caring for this interruption.

“It was yesterday in the late evening that Yutaka Abe, business director, has been apprehended by the police for the attempted murder of Masaki Negishi. That day the police have received a call from an anonymous source claiming that Negishi’s life was in danger. A thorough investigation proved that claim true as Abe was caught in the act of setting a trap for his victim.”

Kogoro took out the check he was paid with. The name used to sign it seemed to glare at him. So that man had hired him to follow his victim, probably hoping that Kogoro would be able to provide him with an alibi.

He couldn’t believe the nerves of that man! How dare he use him like that!

He almost wanted to tear the check out of spite, but common sense came back to him. It would probably be a lot more harmful to the man to keep the money.

He got up and started to get dressed, it was time to pay a visit to an old friend. His testimony might not be needed, but it could only help incriminating the man who thought he could get one over Kogoro Mouri.

The news cut down to a video of Abe getting arrested, and just as Kogoro turned off the TV he heard the last sentence he uttered: “If it weren’t for this dastardly brat I would have never been caught!”

\--

Shinichi watched as the professor was tinkering on yet another of his inventions. Ever since that day at Tropical Land, he had taken to visiting the professor every day after school on his insistence. Shinichi wasn’t worried about his head anymore, but it was the only way to avoid disappointment from Ran and the professor. This also gave him an occasion to take a break from solving that challenge note.

Sitting with his front against the back of the chair, he observed the professor in silence. He was already working on his invention when Shinichi arrived, and he knew better than to distract him and risk an explosion. He wasn’t sure what this gadget was supposed to do but considering the sparks it was still letting out as the professor was working on it, he had a feeling it wasn’t quite ready for public use yet.

Unless the point was to electrocute people, he guessed.

Agasa let out a heavy sigh as he finally put it away and took off his googles.

“So how’s your search going Shinichi? Did you found anything on the men who attacked you?”

Shinichi scowled as he crossed his arms. “Nothing. There is no mentions of them in newspapers, Megure let me look through older cases but none were relevant, and looking for them on the internet only showed a bunch of unlucky look alike.”

Agasa hummed. “I see, and how’s your head, any headache recently?”

This time he let out a sigh as the recurring question. “Nope, nothing, it seemed to be fully healed.”

“Aah, I’m glad to hear it.” With everything put away nicely, Agasa start heading toward the kitchen, Shinichi following without a word. “And what about the kid you mentioned, Conan wasn’t it? Any luck finding him?”

Another sigh. “Still nothing.” He sat at the counter. “Everywhere I look only lead me to dead ends. Like those men in black, it was as if they’ve managed to convince the world they didn’t exist.”

Agasa hummed in answer. “Have you considered it?”

“That he was an hallucination?” Shinichi scowled. “I know he was real.”

Agasa lifted placating hands. “Alright, alright.”

Shinichi let the matter drop. He knew the kid was real, but he was also aware that, as long as he didn’t have any proof, Agasa would stay dubious on the matter. Shinichi would have agreed, with how farfetched it was, except that he has witnessed it and, hit on the head or not, he knew it was real.

Speaking of kids. “That remind me of that case Ran’s father solved.”

“What do you mean?” Agasa was taking out various vegetables and a big pan as he asked. Shinichi tried to guess what he was making.

“One of Yoko Okino’s stalker choose not to kill himself after having a talk with a little kid.” Shinichi still thought that was odd, but was mostly grateful another life was spared. He didn’t think he’ll ever really understand the motives of murderers.

Agasa shrugged. “It’s good that he chooses to live, but there are plenty of children, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has nothing to do with your Conan.” He started to peel the vegetables.

Shinichi hadn’t actually thought there might be a link between the two, but it might not be impossible. Maybe he should try contacting them, if he ever gets the chance. He hummed noncommittally in answer to Agasa. There was another thing…

“Do you know anything about Kaitou Kid?”

The professor blinked in surprise. “Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time, are you taking an interest in him too?”

“Too?” Was the professor also interested in that thief?

Agasa nodded. “Yes, you father used to chase him around, back then. He was even the one to gave him that name, KID.”

That was new to Shinichi, but it would explain the familiarity with the name then… “How did he even find that name?”

Agasa hummed as he starts roughly chopping the onions. “Well, if I remember well, his case number in Interpol was 1412, one day Yusaku wrote it down, and when a journalist saw it, he read it as KID, and then the name stuck.”

Well, Shinichi guessed he could have ended up with a worse name. But that wasn’t why he asked, “I was mostly just curious about whomever challenged him, the riddle that was sent to the police shows a great mind behind it, but it seems wasted on a thief who announces his target beforehand.”

Agasa laughed, putting the cut onions in the pan, giving a quick stir. “Aah, your father used to say the same thing about Kid before he actually attended one of his heists. You should try attending it, I’m sure you’ll understand what you father saw in that thief.” Shinichi was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, but thieves really weren’t that interesting.

Well, except maybe the one he met at that clocktower, but he wasn’t much of a thief in the end…

Agasa started cutting the potatoes. Maybe he was making curry?

“Are you making curry?”

“Yes, do you want to eat here?”

Shinichi shrugged. “If that’s no inconvenience.”

After that, the conversation switched to school, and to Agasa’s new invention, and so on an so forth until Shinichi finally went home.

\--

It has been a full day since Shinichi saw the message sent to Kaitou KID, and yet he felt like he was no closer to having deciphered it.

Sure, he has found a way it can be interpreted. But the problem was that he found more than one. There were way too many ways to read it, and each translation would mean wholly different things. It was frustrating him.

He loved it.

Ran was willing to listen to his ranting on the way to school, about all the possible interpretations and the many layers of comprehension of that puzzle, but she couldn’t offer him any help on actually finding the true meaning. Saying it out loud still helped him find more interpretations.

He felt like he just misses an important piece of context that would help him figure it all out.

As soon as he was seated, he took out the notice again. Sonoko took one look at him and rolled her eyes.

“So I guess you still haven’t decoded it? What was it about you calling KID a mere thief?”

“Morning Sonoko, as you can see I’m busy so unless you have anything interesting to say.”

“Oh-oh? So you wouldn’t be interested in seeing Kaitou KID’s answer then?” Shinichi turned to her faster than one can blink.

“He already answered that challenge?”

She rolled her eyes. “See for yourself.” And she gave him today’s newspaper.

Front page was KID’s own calling card, clearly answering that challenge.

Shinichi took a good look at it, but clearly the thief had chosen the same kind of layered meaning to answer the challenge.

A smile spread on his face. This might be the key to understand both messages.

\--

Conan watched as the police finally left the place. The bowtie the professor made for him might have been his first gadget, but it was also currently his most useful one.

With the manor inhabitants arrested, it would be safe for the Detective Boys to explore.

Conan has “met” them earlier this week in the park, while he was thinking about his next course of actions. For some inexplicable reasons, they had decided he would play with them and wouldn’t accept any kind of refusals.

Facing such rhetoric, he had no choice but to accept.

And then whenever he would go to the park, he would be forced to play with them.

And with the weekend approaching, they had invited him to explore the haunted manor with them, clearly unaware of the on-going police investigation. But luck seemed to be on their side, as the police left on the day they had chosen to explore.

And thus, Conan was waiting in front of the house for the rest of the group to show up. Not to be shown up this time, he even brought drinks for everyone.

“Conan!” and here was Ayumi, followed as always by Genta and Mitsuhiko. “Have you been waiting long?” There was a slight blush on her face. He chuckled weakly. Ayumi slight crush on him would be a lot more cuter if he weren’t actually eighteen.

Well, he wasn’t planning on staying long enough for her to act on it anyway.

After a quick check of what everyone brought, they set toward the house…

Where the door was open.

Conan felt himself deadpan. Good job, police officer!

To the kids, though…

“Aaah, I knew it! The house is haunted, why else would the door open so suddenly!” It was Genta. But, suddenly, really? It was probably just left open by the police when they left.

Clearly Mitsuhiko too didn’t see it as something scary. “The door was probably left open by the last person who came in.”

But Ayumi had something to say about that. “But no one is supposed to have come in lately! The house has been abandoned for five years, since that terrible murder.” She felt a chill go down her spine. It was such a scary story!

Conan sighed. Kids and their imagination. “Maybe someone is looking to buy the house and that’s why they visited.” Well, he knew the truth, but this didn’t mean he had to share it. “Come on guys, you wanted to see inside.” And thus he led the way.

Until Genta pushed him back to make himself look braver.

Conan sighed. As much as he loved them, he had forgotten how exhausting they can be.

And off they were to explore a blessedly empty house. Hopefully, this will be boring enough for them that they won’t want to repeat the experience.

\--

Conan cursed his thoughts. The exploration of the house has gone with little to no scare, no proof of haunting could be found, and they even got home before any of their parents could worry.

So of course, they had to bring up the topic again on the day after.

“It’s not because this house wasn’t haunted that others aren’t!” He felt a headache coming.

“Yeah, we gotta prove that ghosts exist!”

“The activity in that house was due to the police investigating, it was written in the newspaper!” At least Mitsuhiko was on his side. “But scientific study says that we need more than one sample to prove something.” Or maybe not.

He sighed. “Alright, and I suppose you guys just happen to know another haunted house in Beika.” They looked at each other before turning at the same time toward him.

“Well… There is a house in the 22nd quarter of Beika…” Ayumi started.

“Rumours says that the parents left years ago, after the death of their son...” Mitsuhiko continued.

“And nowadays, the son keeps haunting the house, not aware of his own death.” Genta had wide eyed as he finished the story.

This all sounded familiar to Conan.

“This is the story of the Eto house!” they all blurted out together.

Aah, so that was why it was familiar.

Conan considered it. After all, this time he had no reasons to keep them away from his house. A grin start spreading on his face. If anything, it could only do good for his younger self to meet the Detective Boys.

“Alright, I’m in.”

They start high-fiving each other.

\--

Tonight was finally the night. All around, journalist and fans were waiting for the infamous thief to appear in the place he alluded to in his answer. All were curious about what the famous “challenge” might be about, and the identity of the mysterious challenger, talks were wild and he even saw some bets going on.

The police task force on the case was also in full force, trying to manage all those people, putting up last minute security measures around what they believe would be the target of that night

Shinichi was watching from afar. The reply sent by Kaitou Kid alluded to here as the meeting point, but still something didn’t settle with him. There was some point in the first challenge he still hasn’t fully understood. He had hoped that coming here might help make things clearer, but so far nothing.

He was carefully examining the proceeding when Ran and Sonoko joined him. They start exchanging their predictions for the evening as they waited for the main event to start.

“I’m still surprised the challenger let Kid choose the setting for their encounter.” It was Ran who pointed it out.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the newspaper says the location was given in Kid’s answer, as well as the time of the encounter, but it would have made more sense for the challenger to pick the time and place don’t you think?”

Shinichi thought back to the first notice. It had alluded to a place, but he hasn’t been able to find out which one. He had assumed that Kid only repeated the time and place, but what if he gave different ones…

But why would he do that? To gain some advantage over this unknown opponent? Unless…

Both notices made mentions of talk, but none spoke of a fight.

So it wouldn’t be impossible the thief decided to bring this spot to attention so they wouldn’t be interrupted.

Which means he needed to find the meeting point alluded in that first notice, somewhere that would be close enough for the thief to reach, but far enough to be out of Police supervision.

One place shined on his mind. The Haido City Hotel was right around the corner, while many fans coming from afar might choose to spend the night here, the mere size of the hotel would make it difficult for the police to watch every entrance, and since it wasn’t alluded as the target it most likely wasn’t prioritized to keep an eye on it.

Coincidentally, it’s rooftop would be easily accessible via handglider, especially with the winds going that way tonight.

“Sorry Ran, Sonoko! I gotta go!”

“Wait, Shinichi!” But he was already running away from them. Ran let out a sigh.

Sonoko grabbed Ran’s arm. “Well, let’s not let him running away ruin the show for us, come on, Kid is going to appear soon!”

Ran smiled and let herself be led toward the front of the crowd.

\--

Conan has been waiting on the rooftop for hours when Kaitou Kid finally made his appearance.

He stayed in the shadows. “Took you long enough to show up, you stupid thief.”

“Well I did have to provide a distraction, it wouldn’t do for anyone to disturb our talk now.” KID made a show of looking around. “So to whom do I owe the pleasure?”

“Why, you don’t recognise your smallest critic? I’m hurt.” Conan felt a frown settle on his face. From the quick answer and the fact he had found this location, he had hoped that Kid had also travelled from his dimension, but this was quickly being tested by the thief’s answers.

“I’m afraid this isn’t the usual style of my favoured opponents.” Though well-hidden, there was an edge to KID’s voice. “So why don’t you present yourself?”

Conan sighed, and step out of the shadows. KID showed nothing, but Conan still felt he was surprised of his appearance.

“Conan Edogawa, detective. I had hoped to find some fireworks but thought it might be best not to attract attention tonight.”

“I see, and what does a detective like you might want from a thief like me?” Any hopes that it was the thief Conan knew fled with that sentence. He sighed and sat down on the floor.

Why couldn’t anything be easy.

“Are you alright little detective?”

“Is that concern I’m hearing? Careful or I might catch you.” Yet Conan didn’t move in the slightest. He took a thinking pause. The hope that Kid would know how to go back has been moving him so far, but if the thief was unaware of his situation, there was probably little he could do to help.

Said thief start squatting in front of him. Shadows kept masking his face but Conan wasn’t interested in catching him tonight.

Well, having the thief help could still be useful, even if he was unaware of the situation. Here goes nothing. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about a gemstone able to make you travel in time?”

He felt the thief stiffen. Oh-oh, could he be aware of something? Conan took a look at him, but he let nothing transpire. He squinted his eyes.

“What do you know about it?”

Kid’s posture changed, making his hat hid his face even more. “I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about.”

Conan rolled his eyes. “It might have been very slight, but I saw you stiffening. Even now your body is tightly wound, and you changed your posture to make it easier to get up quickly, as if readying to flee. The fact you are trying to relax it now only proves my point. So you either know something about the gemstone or about the time travel, so spill.”

Kaitou Kid slowly got up. His face didn’t let anything transpire. It was as if the thief had chosen to close himself to Conan. “And why should I tell you what I know?”

Conan didn’t move. He had a feeling that any wrong move would make him lose the thief. “You know, it is technically your fault I am here.”

“You were the one to send the first invitation.” Were Kid any less good, doubt would have shown on his face.

“No I don’t mean, here in this place. I mean, here in general.”

“What do you mean?” ~~~~

Conan look him as straight in the eye as he could. “I attended one of your heists, chased you, caught up to you, and when I tried to take the jewel from you I ended up a year in the past, on the other side of town.”

“And yet it is the first time we meet.”

Conan let out a sigh. There goes his best chance of going home. “I only speak the truth. You once called me a critic, only able to speak of the facts after they’ve happened.”

Kid didn’t react to his words. If the thief wasn’t willing to talk…

Conan slowly got up. Pressing the button on his belt, he let a regular sized football come out, and start dribbling with it.

“You know, there is a reason I was called the Kid Killer back then.”

There was no answer from the thief.

“It is because out of every heist I would attend, the media considered me the closest to catching you.”

\--

When Shinichi finally reached the rooftop, he heard the sound of someone playing with a football.

“You know, there is a reason I was called the Kid Killer back then.” Kid Killer? Out of all his research on the thief, Shinichi had never encountered that moniker before.

“It is because out of every heist I would attend, the media considered me the closest to catching you.” The media? While Shinichi didn’t pay close attention to any articles related to thievery, this moniker would have come out during his research on Kid.

Yet, the only thing he found was his father’s rivalry with the thief before his eight-year hiatus.

He got closer to the door but decided to wait it out for now. This was shaping up to become an interesting mystery.

“Listen, kid,” Another voice, must be the famous Kaitou Kid. But, kid? Could it be a reference to his title of Kid Killer, or was his interlocuter an actual child? “This is a very interesting tale you spun, but I really cannot help you.” Clearly something has already happened before his arrival. What did Shinichi miss?

“I see,” the voice did sound quite young. And why did it sound familiar to Shinichi?

There seemed to be bigger gap between each hit on the football. And suddenly, a huge boom resonated, startling Shinichi. What was that? What could have made such a hit?

He couldn’t hear the football anymore. He dearly hoped it was just because whoever was playing with it dropped it, and not because someone hit the ball hard enough against the door to make it shake like that.

He was really tempted to see what was happening now, but he didn’t want to startle any of them into fleeing. He inched back closer to the door, looking for a gap to see through. The door now had a round indent right in the middle. A chill went down his spine. This would require a lot of force.

“If you claim to know me so well, you should be aware threats doesn’t work on me.”

“Tonight I didn’t came here to catch you. Take it as a warning, I had a lot of spare time ever since I arrived here, I’m sure I can find time to visit your next heist.”

“I will be seeing you again then, little detective.” He heard a click sound, and then nothing.

From that last sentence, the thief had most likely just left the premise.

Shinichi looked for a darker place to hide. If the one who sent the first notice was also the one who has dented the door, he really didn’t want that firepower aimed at him without more information.

But as he waited and waited for anyone to come out, minutes passed and he decided to risk it. He got closer to the door, opening it very slowly and hoping for it to stay silent.

All his precautions were for nothing, as he couldn’t see anyone on the roof. A quick look around provided no proof that the phantom thief and his interlocuter were here, no traces of them left except for that suspicious indent in the door.

\--

Conan sighed as he watched the thief fly away. He mused his hair with his hand. This has thrown a wrench in his plans.

He had hoped Kid had travelled with him here. Barring that, he had hoped the thief would have some insight on what exactly could have happened.

But while the thief seemed aware of something, he also chooses to be tight-lipped. Not that Conan could blame him, who knows how he himself might have reacted in that kind of situation.

It still doesn’t make anything easier.

He would probably need to find another way to go home, but… He turned on the transmitter on his glasses. He might still be able to get more answers from the thief. He saw the little dot steadily getting away from him, whether or not the thief noticed the transmitter, it would at least give him some clues as to how to find him.

For now, there wasn’t much he could do. He lay on the roof, hidden in a small nook, looking at the starry sky, seeing no differences from the stars back home.

He misses Ran. Had this not happened, he would have been back in his body, finally able to spend time with his girlfriend.

And yet, he could never regret being able to save so many lives with his actions here. The mere idea of not doing anything, of only focusing on going home and ignoring whatever is happening here, didn’t sit right with him.

He let out a sigh. And as plans run out in the back of his mind, he let himself enjoy the night, not even reacting when his past self stepped on the roof.

\--

Well, this sure wasn’t what he had expected when he had accepted this meeting, Kaito mused as he finally got home. And what a strange meeting it was. A so-called time traveler, coming from a year in the future, with the appearance of an eight-year-old child. Or most likely just a child with a really imaginative mind. And what a well-developped mind, to create such an intricate riddle just to ask for a meeting.

He wasn’t sure how much stock to put behind the idea of a gemstone able to make one travel through time. It sounded ridiculous, an actual fairytale, and yet…

There were people a lot worse looking for a gem able to grant immortal life.

His belief in real magic was still tentative. There was no proof of the existence of Pandora besides the words of a murderer, and some people were willing to go to extreme while pursuing fairy tales.

And while there was probably _something_ going on with Akako at school, her claims to be a witch didn’t mean much without proof.

He snort. There he was, thinking like a _detective_. Planning an heist on such short notice on top of deciphering the kid’s calling card didn’t give him much time to rest, he’ll have to revisit these memories later, for now it was bed time.

With a final look to make sure everything was at its place in the Kid lair, he made sure to lock up before heading back to his room. At least, he had been nice enough to set up the meeting on the night before a week-end.

\--

Shinichi tried to stifled a yawn as he set toward the Mouri Agency. Ran, Sonoko and him had agreed to meet up today, partly for some shopping and mostly to talk more about yesterday’s heist, but staying up so late last night made him wish he could have rest some more today.

In the end, he never saw who set up that meeting with Kid. And on top of that, he also missed the actual heist. He spent the night replaying what little he overheard between the two, but any kind of research on the term of Kid Killer only led to old cases of murdered children, or conspiracy theory about Kaitou Kid being a murderer, that were quickly disproved by going through his father’s old files on the thief. Any more research had to be left for later as he starts falling asleep on said files.

Thankfully, walking toward Ran’s house didn’t need his full attention, giving him more time to think on it before meeting up with the girls. “Kid Killer” was the one who set up a meeting. Considering the various layered meaning on the invitation they sent, they must be highly intelligent, but also familiar with Kaitou Kid and his modus operandi. They might also be familiar with the way the police think to have made sure they wouldn’t find their meeting place, or they were arrogant enough to believe they wouldn’t be found. They believed to be well-known from the media, yet no report of them existed. They also possessed extreme strength, and their voice sounded familiar to Shinichi.

He wished he had a ball to play with as he thought on it. Clues came to him as breadcrumb, and he seemed to never have enough to complete the puzzle.

By the time he arrived, he had made no headway on this. He soon put this all aside as he enjoyed the afternoon with his friends.

\--

Since his first attempt to get help from the thief hasn’t worked, it was time for Plan C.

Conan let out a heavy sigh.

He really didn’t want to involve them.

Of course, with them on his side it would be a lot easier to move around, to find the information he’ll need to go home, and to take care of the crow’s infestation. There could be only benefits to having them in the know.

His reluctance only came from the fact he knew they would laugh at him for ending up in this whole mess.

But… There is nothing stopping him from having a good laugh at their expense first.

A grin appeared on his face. They almost gave him a heart attack with their plans to dissuade him from investigating further. It was time for payback.

But first, he had to get a few things ready…

\--

They met up in the early evening. Conan knew for a fact that Shinichi would be out at this time but should be expected back fairly soon. In the darkening hours of the evening, and with no light inside, the house did seem scarier than it was. But to call it haunted?

Of course, the first obstacle on their quest was the fact the gate was closed, and too high for them to reach. A good thing Conan did some “scouting” earlier, and coincidentally found a smaller, well-hidden passageway leading directly inside.

“Wow, you’re so cool Conan!” Of course, that remark from Ayumi got him glares from the two boys. But when came time to enter the tunnel, none of them seemed brave enough to go first.

They all exchanged a look. Conan sighed and turned on the lamp on his watch, leading the way. “Come on guys, it’s not that long.” He led them inside, lighting the path with his lamp to avoid any stumble. The tunnel was barely big enough to fit them, and Conan knew for a fact it led to an out-of-the-way room that was now mostly used as a storing place and accumulating dust.

In fact, this whole side of the house was mostly there to collect dust and unused valuable (and hide the occasional broken object), actually giving more credence to the whole “this house his haunted” theory.

Conan let the kids roam free, exploring any room that wasn’t locked, as nothing happened they grew more and more bold, speaking louder and touching everything that seemed interesting. Conan decided it was time to corral them and teach them more about detective investigation.

Unsurprisingly, they took to it like fish to water.

It was in the middle of the lesson on “how to escape notice from criminal and capture them” that Shinichi came home.

“What are you kids doing here?”

Conan felt a grin widen on his face. Nothing like practice to make a lesson stick.

“Aaaah a ghost!” He screamed as he starts running the opposite way, the kids on his heels.

Predictably, Shinichi followed. “Hey wait!”

“We have to slow him down!” Yes Genta! Conan looked around for anything unimportant enough to be thrown in the way.

Mitsuhiko didn’t let him time to think. He grabbed a nearby lamp and threw it at Shinichi. Conan sent a mental apology to his parents. He heard Shinichi curse and couldn’t help himself. “Gasp, watch your language!”

“Please stop running!”

“We won’t listen to a ghost!” Genta replied, but Shinichi was slowly gaining on them. Conan thought quickly. “Genta, Ayumi, go to your left, Mitsuhiko with me to the right!”

They did as told at the next open doors. Without missing a beat, Shinichi followed Conan and Mitsuhiko. They led him on a wild goose chase, making use of their smaller stature to use shortcuts, and throwing furniture at him whenever he got too close.

\--

As Shinichi was pursuing the other two, Genta and Ayumi used that time to take a break. And to plan.

“We need to help them!”

“Yeah! We gotta capture that ghost too!”

“But what can we do against him, he’s so scary!” Ayumi let out a shudder. She hasn’t expected the ghost to pursue them like that!

They mused quietly on what they could do to catch the ghost and save their friends.

“I know!” Genta said loudly. “It’s like Conan said with criminals! We can set up a trap, and then we’ll just need to lead him there!”

“Yes! And then we can finally prove to the world ghosts are real!”

“Yeah!” They both lifted their fist to the sky.

\--

As Genta and Ayumi were setting up their trap, Mitsuhiko and Conan has just found a small enough space to hide from Shinichi.

As the detective passed in front of them without noticing, they let out a breath.

At this time, Conan missed the detective badge. Contact with the other two would have been useful, he would have to find a way to request something similar from the professor.

“Remember what I taught you about catching criminals? I guess it’s time to see if it works on ghosts.”

“But how can you be sure he is a ghost? He seemed so real.”

“Then we’ll just have to catch him to make sure.” Conan felt almost bad for misguiding them like this, but they would need to develop their skills, especially with how much trouble they keep running into.

(Conan pretended to ignore the fact that they only ran into trouble because they were following him most of the time. He is sure that, whether or not he was here, they would find a way to look for trouble.)

\--

Shinichi let out a sigh as he stopped. Seeing lights on in his house when he came back put him on edge, but he was left wrong-footed when he just found four kids going through his things.

Pursuing them when they started to run was a reflex, but he hadn’t expected them to be quite so good at evading him. It was as if they already knew the lay of the house, and this beg the question of whether or not they’ve been here before, without his knowledge.

But he would have noticed had anyone gone through his house while he wasn’t there, wouldn’t he?

He starts walking, inspecting every room more closely, paying more attention to any hiding point he knew of. Even if they knew his house, he still had the advantages of having lived here long enough to know every nook and cranny, so it shouldn’t take that long to find and interrogate them.

He opened a door and directly had to cover his ears as the sharp noise of a child safety alarm rang. Closer inspection showed it was tied to the door in such a way it would ring whenever the door was open wide enough, so they had clearly set it up to alarm themselves of his presence. Clever, but this also meant he was getting closer.

From here, they only could have gone in this corridor. He would just need to be especially careful as he inspects each room that they do not escape while he is looking elsewhere. All the doors were closed. He picked the first one, opening it wide in the hope of frightening them to submission. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see something falling fast toward him, he quickly stepped aside but some of the contents of the bucket still fell on him, painting his legs red.

Looking at the huge puddle on the floor, he wondered where they could have gotten it set up this fast. And he dearly hoped it would wash easily. At least, if they were to pass here, there is no way they could avoid that puddle, leaving footprints to follow. Still, he makes sure to inspect the room while keep an eye on the corridor. Nothing. He closed the door and starts toward the next one.

More carefully, he opened it. A look up showed nothing ready to fall on him. A check of the handle showed nothing triggered to it. Still careful, he made sure to inspect it well for traps before opening it. He let out a sigh before stepping inside the room.

And reigned in the urge to scream as he stepped into something wet. Part of him didn’t want to _know_ , what, exactly, this was, but detective instinct took reigns. A closer inspection showed it to be a mix of flour and water? He couldn’t understand _why?_

Until he took a few steps and the mix got stuck on his slippers and, oh, this is the worst feeling ever. He gingerly said goodbye to his slippers, he would have to keep going on socks. Once again, the rest of the room hid no little monsters.

Shinichi took a deep breath and tried to rein his urges to cause harm on these kids.

\--

It took checking almost every room and avoiding even more traps before he finally caught up to two of them. Shinichi was painted a whole array of colours, and could feel bruises in places unknown, and the worst of it?

He caught them because they were taking a _snack break_.

He tied them carefully, loose enough not to hurt but with methods that kids had no way to escape from and made sure to leave them in a room locked from the outside.

Two down, two more to go.

\--

Shinichi looked at the third kid he caught. Now he had the girl, the strong boy and the lean boy.

But there was still one missi-

He felt something prick his neck, and then, nothing.

Conan looked at Shinichi just slumped asleep, thanks to some little help with the soporific dart. Putting him in a little more comfortable position, he set out to free his friends. He should have just enough time to debrief them and sent them back home before Shinichi woke up.

\--

Shinichi had been scrubbing his house for hours when the doorbell rang. He hadn’t been expecting any visitor, but it wouldn’t be the first time someone unannounced came to visit him, whether it be for a case or simply because of his parent’s fame.

A look through the gate’s camera showed nothing, and he resigned himself to open the door.

And found three children smiling on his doorstep. He considered closing the door but didn’t even have time to start the motion before they start running inside.

He took a deep breath. Held it in. Let it out.

“What are _you_ doing here?” he said exasperatedly. “I told you I didn’t want to see you guys anymore near here.”

“Conan told us he was busy today! So he cannot teach us how to be detectives!” The little girl started.

“And how is that my problem?” Shinichi crossed his arms.

“He also told us you are a great detective!” the lean boy continued, not answering him. Shinichi felt pride that even kids knew of his reputation, but it was quickly shovelled down by the fact it was _these_ specific kids.

“So you have to teach us while he can’t!” the stronger boy finished.

“No.” He didn’t even give it a thought. “There is no way I am going to teach you guys anything. Especially not after what you did yesterday.” He barely remembered what happened once he caught three of them the previous evening, he couldn’t even remember falling asleep and once he woke up the only proof of their presence was the absolute mess they left from their attempts to catch him. Mess that he had to clean by himself.

“But Conan said you had to teach us!”

“And he is not the boss of me. I don’t owe any of you anything.”

They looked at each other. “See guys, I told you he wasn’t such a great detective, he doesn’t even want to teach us!” it was the smaller boy who started.

Shinichi could feel a tick appear on his brow but refused to play their game.

The little girl continued “He couldn’t even stop us yesterday!” He clenched his hands.

The bigger one added “I don’t see what Conan like in this guy.” Alright he was done.

“I don’t even know your names!”

“I am Ayumi! This is Genta and Mitsuhiko!”

That was the wrong thing to say, now he was sure they wouldn’t leave him alone.

He sighed and gave up. “This still doesn’t make it alright. Now take a rag, I’m going to teach you how to hide evidence.” He ignored their cheering as he equipped them with cleaning supplies. Maybe once they were done with cleaning, they would give up on getting him to teach them.

And well, he might get some more information on “Conan” this way.

\--

Ran was on a warpath. The last Kaitou Kid Heist was supposed to be the last night her boyfriend would spend as a seven-year-old, he was supposed to come back to his self on the following day.

But clearly, fate had other plans.

Or at least, that thief had.

Shinichi has disappeared since the day of the heist. She knows he is more than able to take care of himself, he probably found something interesting that distracted him enough to forget to tell her where he went. But it has almost been a week since then, and after the last scare he should have contacted her by now.

This silence on his part was worrying her, and no one seemed to have heard from him since then.

And since the thief was the last person who must have seen him, he was also the most likely to have answers for her.

But well, he wasn’t a phantom thief for nothing. She sighed as she crossed out another dead end.

Just as she was thinking of stopping for the night, her phone rang.

“Mouri Ran speaking.”

“Yo Ran, this is Shinichi.” Part of her wanted to finally relax. Finally word from her wayward boyfriend! But a part of her nagged to pay attention.

“Shinichi! Finally, you call, where were you?” You could hear the pout in her voice. Over the line, Shinichi chuckled weakly.

“Ahah, sorry sorry, you know how it could be, I got busy on a case. But that’s not why I’m calling. I was wondering if you heard anything from Conan lately?”

A frown marred Ran’s face. Why would Shinichi asked about himself?

Unless it wasn’t Shinichi.

She decided to see how it would go.

“Well, I haven’t seen him since he attended Kaitou Kid last heist. Why are you asking?”

“Oh well you know, there was something I needed to ask him, anyway I gotta go-“ she cut him before he could finish that sentence.

“You’re not Shinichi.”

Silence over the line. She almost feared whoever it was already hang up. She decided to take a shot in the dark.

“You’re Kaitou Kid.”

Still no answer. She could hear his breathing over the phone.

“And you were the last person to see Conan before he disappeared.”

She could hear his gulp. Good to know he still fear her.

”Spill.”

Surprisingly, he did.

“Something happened while we were facing each other. Conan disappeared, and at first I thought it was just another of his tricks, but he still hasn’t re-appeared so far. But I am going to find him and brought him back, do not worry mademoiselle.”

Ran frowned. It wasn’t like she could verify the thief’s word, but still she felt like he was leaving something out.

She was so tired of people keeping secrets from her.

“I want to be part of your investigation.”

She could hear the noise signalling her interlocuter has hang up. She tightened her grip on the phone. So Kid wanted to do it the hard way then.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. He better be ready for the consequences then.

\--

**Bonus Omake (during the Kid and Conan meeting on the roof)**

Conan didn’t move. He had a feeling that any wrong move would make him lose the thief. “You know, it is technically your fault I am here.”

“You were the one to send the first invitation.” Were Kid any less good, doubt would have shown on his face.

“No I don’t mean, here in this place. I mean, here in general.”

“What do you mean ?”

“You are my father.”

“Wh-“ He didn’t let the thief finish.

“Or more like the previous Kaitou Kid was my father.”

The thief lost his composure. “Wait wait wait, what do you mean by that?”

“I know you aren’t the original Kaitou Kid, you look too young for that.”

“That’s not what I- I mean, why do _you_ think Kaitou Kid is your father?”

Conan hadn’t actually planned to say that, but Kid’s reaction was way too funny to not milk it. He took out the imaginary violins. “I never knew my dad, my mom has to raise me all by herself. All she could tell me about him was that he wear a Top Hat and a Cape, and that he had to go far away and couldn’t take care of us.”

“This doesn’t prove the Kid was your dad.”

“Also I did a DNA test.”

“You did _what_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll try to have chapter 3 ready in two weeks but don't hold me accountable on that (because it's going to be massive, a lot is gonna happen there)  
> I honestly had a lot of fun writing the Kogoro scene with Okino, but I won't rewrite every cases from the manga like that. I also feel like it's worth saying I do not condone Akiyoshi's actions, if someone acts like that with you you should be wary and probably cut link if it gets worse, but here I mostly followed how he acted in canon.  
> Concerning the Kaitou KID timeline, the reason he acts Like That is because he's still in the beginning of his career and isn't used to all the weird shit that keeps happening to him. But don't worry, we'll see more of him :')  
> There is a very logical reason for Conan letting the Detective Boys ruin Shinichi's life beside me finding it funny. Yep. Please send me your best guesses as for why.  
> Hope you guys enjoyed! You can find me on tumblr at [aobawilliams](https://aobawilliams.tumblr.com/) !

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [aobawilliams](https://aobawilliams.tumblr.com/)!


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